The LaGrange Symphony Orchestra will expand its annual children’s concert thanks to a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Scheduled for March, “Music Tells a Story” explores the region’s American Indian heritage and will feature orchestral music composed by LaGrange College professor Lee Johnson and narration exploring the Cherokee Indians’ experience during the Trail of Tears written by Gayle Ross.

The Challenge America Fast-Track Review Grant will allow the symphony to expand the audience for “Music Tells a Story” to include more than 400 children from neighboring Meriwether County.

Scott Smith, president of the symphony board, said: “The LSO is grateful to the NEA for their positive consideration of our application. This grant will allow the symphony to provide third- and fourth-grade students from Meriwether County the same opportunity currently afforded students from Troup, Harris and Chambers counties to enjoy a live orchestral concert in Callaway Auditorium, complete with story-telling and audience participation.”

The NEA said grants of this type provide critical funding for projects that increase access to music in communities nationwide.

NEA funding both directly supports local projects and also spurs critical giving from other sources like private foundations, corporations and individual contributors, officials said. Challenge America grants aim to help orchestras bring the experience of the arts to underserved populations limited by geography, demographics, economics or disability.